AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 302, VOLUME 49, LAWS OF DELAWARE, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF FENWICK ISLAND, DELAWARE" RELATING TO CREATING A TAX LIEN AND PROVIDING FOR A MONITION FORM OF SALE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each House thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Section 24, Charter of the Town of Fenwick Island,

Chapter 302, Volume 49, Laws of Delaware, as amended, by deleting the fourth, fifth and sixth paragraphs and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

"B. COLLECTION OF ANNUAL TAXES

The Treasurer, within ten (10) days after the receipt of said tax list and warrant, shall render to each person named therein an account or tax bill showing the amount due, either by delivering the same in person, or mailing to the last known post office address of the taxable. Not less than sixty (60) days or more than ninety (90) days after mailing or delivery of said accounts or tax bills to the taxables, as herein provided, the Treasurer shall cause a list of unpaid taxes to be posted in some convenient and public place within the Town. Unless said taxes are paid within thirty (30) days after the posting of said notices, the Treasurer of the Town and in the name of the Town shall proceed at once to collect the taxes on said tax list and warrant with all costs.

All taxes so laid or imposed by The Town of Fenwick Island in such Annual Tax List shall be and constitute a lien upon all the real estate of the taxable for a period of ten (10) years against or upon whom such taxes are laid or imposed of which such taxable was seized or possessed at any time after such taxes shall have been levied and imposed that is situate within The Town of Fenwick Island. Such lien shall have preference and priority to all other liens on such real estate, as aforesaid, created or suffered by the said taxable, although such lien or liens be of a time and date prior to the time of the attaching of such lien for taxes.

All taxes, when and as collected by the Treasurer, shall be paid to The Town of Fenwick Island, and all taxes shall be due and payable at and from the time of the delivery of the Annual Tax List to the Treasurer.

All taxes shall be payable at the Office of the Treasurer during the regular business hours of that Office.

On all taxes unpaid after thirty (30) days following the delivery of the duplicate Annual Tax List to the Treasurer there shall be added a penalty of Five Percent (5%) for each month or fraction thereof such taxes shall remain unpaid and said penalty shall be collected in the same manner as the original amount of the tax. All taxes unpaid on such date as specified by appropriate resolution or ordinance shall be considered delinquent. The Town Council shall have the power by appropriate resolution to make just allowances for delinquencies in the collection of taxes. The Treasurer shall cause a list of such unpaid taxes to be posted in a public place in the Town. In effecting a collection of delinquent tax, the Town Council may impose a collection charge not to exceed eighteen percent (18%) of the amount of the tax and any penalty imposed thereon.

At the August meeting of the Town Council of each year, the Treasurer shall account to the Town Council for all taxes and charges collected by him during the year and shall be liable on his bond for failure to account for any uncollected taxes or charges unless he can show to the satisfaction of the Town Council that all remedies permitted for the collection of said taxes were pursued without result or, if not pursued, the remedies would have been without avail.

The Treasurer or the President, when any tax has become delinquent, may, in the name of The Town of Fenwick Island, institute suit before any Justice of the Peace or in the Court of Common Pleas of the

State of Delaware, in and for Sussex County, or in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, in and for Sussex County, for the recovery of the unpaid tax in an action of debt, and upon judgment obtained, may sue out writs of execution as in case of other judgments recovered before a Justice of the Peace or in the Court of Common Pleas, or in the Superior Court, as the case may be.

(8) However, should the Treasurer or President so elect, he is

empowered to sell the lands and tenements of the delinquent taxpayer or the lands and tenements of a delinquent taxpayer alienated subsequent to the levy of the tax by the direction of the Town Council using any of those procedures specified for the sale of land for the collection of taxes on the part of the individuals charged with the responsibility for the collection of taxes for Sussex County, and all such procedures and methods available for the sale of land, as aforesaid, as they are presently enacted and hereafter amended, are included herein and made a part hereof by reference thereto, including the method of sale by monition, as the same is set forth in the statutes made and provided, substituting the Town of Fenwick Island for Sussex County therein."

Section 2. Amend Subsection B. Section 24, Charter of the Town of Fenwick Island, Chapter 302, Volume 49, Laws of Delaware, as amended, by changing "B" to "C" so that the heading shall read as follows: